Save Me
by hana-to-mame
Summary: Ian/Gabe.  Of course they were instant friends.  And Ian is finding that Tower Prep is changing him in more ways than he could possibly imagine.  slash!
1. Señor Guapo

**Title:** Save Me

**Pairing:** Ian/Gabe

**Rating:** PG-13

**Summary:** Set in episode two. They were instant friends, so could they instantly become lovers? Ian's POV.

Chapter 1 - Señor Guapo (Posted October 27th 2010)

I was extremely confused when I first woke up at Tower Prep. I still am confused about a lot of things here, but my new friends make it a little easier to be here despite this fact. Suki, CJ, and Gabe all make me feel like we can figure this mystery out. But I feel like this the most when I'm around Gabe.

It's only been a few days, but it doesn't take a genius to see true friendship when it's staring you in the face. It does, however, take a genius to understand why one of your friends has this strong pull on you and doesn't even seem to notice it. I am not a genius, so I have no idea why every time I see Gabe I just want to keep looking at him.

Sometimes I catch him glancing at me in class. We give each other quick smiles and look back at wherever we had previously been looking. But I wouldn't want to look away. I'd see his smiling face in my mind, and I just couldn't drive it out. And watching him use his hyper-suasion ability was mesmerizing. He was so calm and cool, he knew exactly what he was doing and had every confidence in himself.

I try not to dwell on it, though. I know it's just the unfamiliar feeling of having a friend as good as him (and one with whom I instantly clicked).

Of course, this morning I invited him (and his roommate, Howard) to breakfast with me. And I got to watch him hyper-suade again. It truly is amazing. But, of course, as Gabe and I were catching each other's eyes in the middle of Science's lecture, a trio of creeps came and accused me of stealing from other students. Then Headmaster threatened to send me to West Campus (who knows what they do there) if I was proven guilty. Then he told me I'm not even allowed to ask my friends for help, I was even assigned a monitor (Chelsea) who is supposed to watch my every move. The heck with that, my friends are the only way I could prove my innocence. Oh, but I found out Gabe has a sock monkey. How cute.

When I left Headmaster's office, this weird opera singer guy asked for his recordings back (apparently I stole them). Thankfully Chelsea dragged him away and Suki, CJ, and Gabe rushed over to me. They knew I'd never steal anything from anyone. And Gabe adorably wondered who would own a sock monkey. I was just in the middle of asking for their help when my stupid monitor came back and shoved me in a closet until my friends walked away.

The next night, something amazing happened. I found this doorway in my wall that leads to some kind of walkway that goes all around the school. Of course, I had to explore. It was amazing. After a few minutes, I found our hideout and climbed in, surprising my friends and enjoying the little smile on Gabe's lips. It was great to see him. I mean, all of them, it was great to see all of them.

After helping them come up with a few ideas for the tribunal, I left and went back to my room. I got a little lost and caught Headmaster asking Whisper about the gnome head. I saw Howard cleaning Gabe's shoes. I also saw my skeezy roommates creeping on some female students, and knew I had to hurry and find my way back to my own room.

That's when I found the sock monkey. I took it with me and made it into the room just before the skeez balls came in.

The next day at lunch was torture. I couldn't talk to Gabe at all. Or CJ or Suki either. I had to do something, just to be able to hear his... their voices. And, brilliant me, I 'accidentally' spilled my juice. Chelsea lovingly left to get me some napkins, and I was able to return the sock monkey to Gabe.

"Señor Guapo!" Gabe yelled joyfully as I tossed it to him.

I took a moment to take in Gabe's happiness and proceeded to tell them how I found him.

Later that night, everyone snuck into my room. Gabe and I went into the walkways and CJ and Suki stayed behind to cover for me. Being down there in the dark wasn't scary, I had been by myself the first time, so I don't know why I was so nervous.

The whole time we were finding clues, I kept thinking about the things I liked about Gabe. I liked his smile. I liked his confidence. I liked his looks. I liked that he was so spontaneous. I liked... Gabe. I liked Gabe? I had no idea where that one came from. I supposed I did like him, as one of my friends. But, was that what the pull was? If so, why didn't I feel it from Suki or CJ, who were also my friends? Still, the way he picked up Guapo's beads was sweet.

Then I saw it. My preflex kicked in and I saw the beads go flying right before the ground beneath us started shaking.

"Ian!" he screamed, compelling me to run over to him.

We fell together, deeper into these mysterious walkways of Tower Prep. Down a few flights of stairs. It seemed like forever until my body stopped tumbling.

"Gabe?" I asked as I carefully sat up. "Gabe?" I called out again when no response came.

I looked around, and saw him heaped on the floor just a few feet from me. "Gabe!" I shook him and he finally regained consciousness. "Are you alright?" I asked, leaning my head a little closer to his.

"Yeah..." he said, kind of confused, as he gazed into my eyes.

"You sure?" I asked, getting closer still, "You're not hurt?" I put my hand on his shoulder merely as in an attempt to comfort him.

"Yeah, I'm... fine..." he still seemed like he wasn't sure what was going on.

And I realized I also had no idea what was going on as I just kept leaning closer to him, telling myself that I was just trying to get a closer look at him to make sure he was alright. But I don't think that's what I was actually doing, because soon I was forcing my lips against his, feeling (and enjoying) their softness and warmth. I was kissing Gabe. Kissing him. And loving it. And he wasn't stopping. Was he confused? Was he more confused than me? Was he thinking about stopping? I wasn't thinking about stopping. All I could think about was how good this felt and what he would do when it was over.


	2. Forget About It

Chapter 2 - Forget About It (Posted October 30th 2010)

Kissing Gabe wasn't like kissing anyone else I'd ever kissed. But I'd never kissed a guy before, never even considered it a possibility, until this very moment. And I knew from the moment our lips connected my life was going to be different. I didn't know if it would change for the better or for the worse, but it was obvious a change was occurring. Because I liked kissing him. A lot. And once I started I didn't want to stop; it felt like I was getting something off my chest that I've had clinging to me ever since my first day here. It felt good.

Of those things, I was sure. What I didn't know, however, was what Gabe was feeling as I kissed him. Was he enjoying it? Was he hating it? Did he care? Would this negatively affect our friendship? Would he tell the others and have them cast me out like a leper? Thoughts like this were racing through my mind along with everything I was just discovering.

I felt his lips slow down, and pull slightly away from mine. But one of his hands came up my arm, across my shoulder, and landed on the back of my neck as the other one simply held onto the front of my shirt. "Ian?" he asked softly. It was dark, our PDAs had ended up on the floor, so I couldn't see his face.

"Yeah?" I said, squinting to see if I could make out any of his features.

"What was... did we just..."

"Kiss?" I said the word for him.

"...yeah." he almost whispered.

"I think so." I thought so? I _knew_ so. But I didn't want him to think I expected anything of him. I kind of hoped he would think it was an accident or a sick joke or something and we could just pretend it never happened.

He waited a moment before saying anything. I think he was trying to make sense of the whole situation. "Are we gonna do it again?"

"Do you want to?" I answered, torn between what I wanted to do and what I thought I should do.

"I think so." Gabe answered. Even though I couldn't see him, I could picture the embarrassed smirk on his face as he said it.

But I didn't waste time fantasizing about his face when his lips were less than an inch away from mine, wanting me to kiss them. So I kissed them. He put both hands on my face and I sat next to him and put my arms around his waist. It just felt so good. He fit in my arms like he was made to be there and his hands felt like angels caressing my face.

"Ian," Gabe said as we stopped again "I don't know about this..."

"About what?" I asked, playing dumb.

"This... Us... Kissing... I'm sorry..." his hands fell from my face.

I unwrapped my arms and scooted back away from him, trying to touch him as least as possible. "I'm sorry too." I said, a little sad but totally understanding. "I shouldn't have surprised you like that..."

"Come on," he grabbed his PDA and handed me mine, "let's just forget about it and keep on going."

I stood too and we continued to search the walkways. So, we were going to forget about it. It was probably for the best anyway. But now I had some serious thinking to do about myself. Was I gay? I didn't think I was gay. But I'd kissed Gabe. And I'd wanted to keep kissing him. But I really couldn't see myself ever wanting to kiss another guy. And I still thought girls were attractive. So I eventually worked out that I was bisexual, but not really because the only guy I fancied was Gabe. But it was better than nothing at all.

As we searched, I tried my hardest to forget. Really, I did. And a few times I thought I'd managed it, but then I'd here Gabe shuffling around behind me and the kiss would replay in my mind a thousand times.

But I could tell that he'd forgotten about it right away. He kept searching, as if nothing had happened.

We discovered the previous structure on which Tower Prep was built. It was a very old building, and we came up with some theories about it, but none that made us very happy.

That's when we saw the lights heading our way. The gnomes were wandering around these halls. But why? We tried to sneak away from them, and then we bumped into CJ and she startled us! The first thought to cross my mind was if she could see anything weird between me and Gabe. I felt like "I kissed Gabe" was written all over my face in bright blue Sharpie. But Gabe seemed cool and collected, and gave no indication of wanting to rat me out, so I tried to calm down. Apparently it wasn't safe for us to go back to my room yet; we had to wait until Suki gave us the all clear.

Together the three of us found the room where the thief was keeping his stolen goods. And the thief actually showed up! We tried to chase him. I ran as fast as I could to try and catch him, my reputation (and possibly my life) was on the line here. But Gabe couldn't keep up. I heard him call my name, and again the feeling of our kiss flashed across my lips. But this was no time to worry about that. "Come on!" I yelled, willing him to hurry up. I couldn't just leave him there all alone. But the thief got away. Suki told us we could come back.

We confronted Fenton about the thefts. But his story checked out. And then he noticed the dirt on Gabe's shoes. The shoes that I saw Howard cleaning. Gabe got all defensive, but I knew what I saw. That's how we figured it out. We tricked Howard into admitting he did it, and then he confessed at my tribunal. I was free.

Headmaster then told me that since Howard was being sent to West Campus, there was a vacancy in Gabe's room. I accepted the offer to get away from my horrible roommates without thinking about what that meant. Gabe. I would be his roommate from now on, sleeping in his room every night. Would he be okay with that? What if he didn't want me there? What was I going to do?

But when I moved my things into his room, he showed so signs of not wanting me there. It seemed as if he really had forgotten all about what happened in the walkways.

"This is gonna be so sweet! You, me, and of course the great unknown. I just never know where he's at."

"Now all we need to worry about is finishing our science homework." I said, trying to put it all behind me just as he had.

But he had to ruin it for me. At my mentioning of science homework, he instinctively tried to hyper-suade me into doing his. Of course, I already knew watching him do that drove me crazy, and now that he was actually doing it to me, I just couldn't take it. It made me want to kiss him again, this time in the light where I could see him. But I stopped myself and instead said, "Alright, Im gonna tell you this one time, Gabe. You try and hyper-suade me, even once, and Señor Guapo here gets transfered to West Campus."

As I suspected, Gabe tried to take Señor Guapo from me, but I pulled it away from him. It was adorable to see him worrying about his sock monkey.

When he agreed not to hyper-suade me I threw Guapo at him and in order to save him from hitting the ground Gabe hurled himself off his bed, catching Guapo in a tuck and roll. This made me laugh hysterically.

Gabe stood himself up and gingerly sat Señor Guapo on his desk. As he positioned him just right, I moved to my new bed and laid back, trying to clear my mind. I closed my eyes, but blinked them open once again when I felt the weight of someone sitting beside me.

"Ian," Gabe's voice sounded very serious, "Ian we have to talk about what happened..." his back was to me, and he didn't turn around as he spoke.

Still, I sat up to answer him. "I thought you wanted to just forget about it?"

"That is what I said... but I've tried to forget, and I can't. I just keep thinking about it."

"Me too." I confessed.

"What do we do?"

"I don't know." I knew what I wanted to do. Oh yes, thoughts were racing through my mind now that were sending hot flashes through my entire body.

"We can't... I mean I'm not gay."

"Neither am I." I said. "At least, I didn't think I was until..." I tried to explain but stopped halfway through. He didn't need to hear my whole story. "But you're right. We can't."

"So that's it, then?"

"I guess." I laid back down and Gabe went back to his own bed.

I knew that was it. But I figured it wouldn't hurt to think about what might happen had we decided not to let it go. I remembered that first kiss, and then the second one Gabe had asked for. And I thought about the different things I would have liked to do to him.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: second chapter of about four or five. I honestly didn't think anyone would even read this so I didn't think I'd ever have to write another chapter. Reviews are much appreciated!


	3. Secret's Out

Chapter 3 - Secret's Out (Posted November 1st 2010)

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. As were the next few days. Classes, homework, goofing off with Gabe in our room (hiding Señor Guapo was one of my favorite pastimes as of late), hanging out with the rest of the gang, and trying to come up with new ideas of what Tower Prep might actually be. Where it might be. How to get out.

We were all in our secret room now, discussing a recent encounter with the gnomes. We were in a circle on the floor. The conversation had come to a halt as we all tried to make sense of something, but my mind was wandering.

Even in the days that passed, I couldn't stop thinking about kissing Gabe. I knew it was over. I knew it shouldn't have happened in the first place. But it did. And now it was stuck in my head. And the more I thought about it, the more I could see why it happened. Gabe was, without a doubt, a very good-looking young man. I should know, I am one myself. He was also my friend, which I think made it easier to want him; knowing he was there and had my back gave me a sense of comfort. And of course the hyper-suasion. I've come to accept that it turns me on every time I witness him working his ability like that.

I knew it was a waste of time to pine over him like that. But I couldn't help it. And, honestly, what harm was it to think about something you want but can't have? People do it all the time with a device they can't afford, a new release for which they must wait an immense amount of time, or a discontinued item never to be sold again. It's good to want, it keeps us motivated. Yes, this was different, but maybe it needed to happen, to show me what was out there, to open doors for me that would have remained not only closed but invisible to my eye had I not kissed Gabe that night.

"Ian. Ian!" CJ yelled and snapped me out of my trance.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Have you come up with anything yet?" Suki asked.

"Uh... no," I said sheepishly, "sorry."

"You seem really preoccupied." CJ gave me a funny look. "Care to share what's on your mind?"

Wide-eyed, I shook my head.

"Come on, I know you're hiding something." CJ peered at me, using her ability to gauge my poker face. "You've been thinking about something but aren't telling."

"Come on!" Suki said pleadingly, "you've been like this for days! CJ can see it on your face and even I noticed you've been acting strangely. Whatever's going on we can help you."

"Help?" I said, "I don't need help."

"Now he's getting nervous," CJ stared at me again, "and your face is getting red! Someone's got a crush!" she grinned.

"Me? Nah." I gave my hand a yeah-right wave.

"Don't lie to me, Ian!" CJ insisted. "Tell us who she is! Maybe we can help."

"I told you I don't need help!"

"Ah, so it _is _a crush then?" Suki squealed. "Ian, you have to tell us! We're your friends, we need to know these things!"

Just then CJ looked at Gabe and read his face as well. "You! You know who it is, don't you?" she asked him.

"Psht. No." he answered. Was he lying? Or did he really not know?

"Liars, both of you!" she giggled with Suki.

"Can we please just let this go?" I asked, desperate to end this conversation.

"Not until you tell us." Suki said.

"I'll make you a deal." CJ proposed. "Either you tell me who it is you like, or you go on a date with me."

It took me a second to realize she wasn't kidding. Apparently, the others were having the same experience.

"What?" both Gabe and I said simultaneously. We looked at each other for a split second, but for some reason I felt compelled to look away, almost ashamed.

"I want you to go on a date with me. Either you tell me who this mystery girl is so you can go on a date with her, or you can go on a date with me."

"You want a date with me?" I asked again, a little surprised.

"Will you just tell her 'yes' already?" Suki said. "We all know you two like each other."

I thought about it for a moment. CJ was a pretty girl. And she was also a really great person and I liked her a lot. I figured maybe it wasn't such a bad idea. Not only that, I thought maybe it would get Gabe's taste out of my mind for a while.

"If you don't mind, I think I'll take the date with you, CJ." I said. From the corner of my eye, I could see Gabe's mouth slightly agape. But why? What did he have against me going out with CJ?

"I knew it was me." CJ said happily.

"Yup." I said, hoping her glee would distract her from the obvious lie. Of course she wasn't the person I was crushing on, but it was probably better to let her think she was instead of correcting her.

"They're showing another movie on campus tomorrow night." Suki offered. "Why don't you two go see it together?"

"Works for me." CJ said, and I agreed.

After some more discussion, we went back to our rooms. As Gabe and I sat on our respective beds, I began thinking about what we might do if his bed suddenly disappeared...

"I don't think going out with CJ is a good idea." Gabe said to me.

Caught off guard, I wondered "Why?"

"I don't know. She's our friend and everything, but..."

"But what?" I sat up and looked him in the eye. "I like her."

"You do?" He seemed genuinely surprised.

"Yeah."

"So she was who you were thinking about when she asked you about your secret crush?" he asked, looking kind of sad, but more angry, even though both emotions were only barely visible.

"Not exactly. But it doesn't matter who I was thinking about. I'm going out with her now."

"I still don't think it's a wise decision."

"Who should I go out with then?" I asked him.

"I don't know." he said. "Someone better."

"Like Suki? Or maybe Chelsea? They're both stand-up girls."

"Sure, whatever." he threw himself under his covers, consenting defeat.

I was more than a little angry with him. Why was he doing this? Unless... "I think you're jealous."

"Of you?" he sputtered.

"No, of CJ. For going out with me." No reply came from him. "So you don't want me, but no one else can have me either, is that it? Well tough." I yelled and rolled over, falling into a nightmare-ridden sleep.

The next morning I woke before Gabe. I dressed and left before he stirred. I avoided contact with him through most of the morning, only breaking that pattern at lunch when I took my usual spot across from him. We still didn't look at each other or talk to each other. We only ate and spoke to the girls.

"What's up with you two?" Suki asked, looking concerned. "You haven't said a word to each other all day."

"Yeah, you two seem pretty hostile. Something happen?" CJ wondered.

"No," Gabe assured them, "nothing happened. We just had a little disagreement. It'll pass."

The truth was, I was feeling rather guilty for the things I'd said to him. I was still upset, but looking back on it I saw how stupid it was. And maybe this was his way of acknowledging the same thing. It'll pass. I hoped it would.

The time between then and my date with CJ passed in a blur, and as I got ready in my room I was beginning to feel somewhat nervous.

I could see Gabe look over at me every few seconds from where he lounged on his bed. It was soon time to leave so I checked how I looked and thought about what I should say to her.

Deciding on just letting the words come to me, I reached for the doorknob. As I was turning it, however, I heard bed sheets rustling and the sound of Gabe's bare feet stepping quickly toward me. Soon I felt his arms encircle me from behind and the side of his face rested on my back. "Wait." his voice was slightly muffled as he whispered, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" I said, feeling even more guilty. "Gabe, _I'm_ sorry. I shouldn't have said those things to you, much less yelled them at you..."

"No." he said. "What you said... I didn't... you were right. I didn't realize that's what I was doing. I tried to forget about the kiss, I really did. But I couldn't. Still can't. And when I figured that out, I thought it was too late. I thought you... Well, anyway, when CJ said you had a crush, I thought there was a chance, but you made this date with her and now I'm so confused, Ian. I don't want you to go out with her. She's a great girl, I know, but... I..."

Hearing this, I couldn't help but crack a small smile. I turned around in his arms which squeezed me tighter and put my hands on his shoulders. "Gabe." I interrupted him.

When he looked up at me, his eyes were dampened and reddened, but I still saw everything I loved about him. And this time I really couldn't take it, I had to kiss those sweet, trembling lips again or I feared I might burst. I swooped in, claiming his lips like I might never have the chance to again. I ran my hands through his short, soft hair and did my best not to bend his glasses.

"Is that better?" I asked him, smoothing out his hair again.

"Yes."

"Will you be alright until I get back?"

"Back?"

"From my date with CJ." I said.

"You're still going?" he sounded wounded.

"I have to! It would be rude to ditch her. I'll tell her I can't date her, but I at least have to go tonight."

"Ok..."

"We can talk more when I come back." I said, giving him another little kiss. He responded pretty passionately and refused to let me go until we both started laughing, dispelling the serious mood. "Really, I have to go. I'll be back soon."

"Bye." he said as I left.

I felt terrible leaving him there after all that. I really wanted to stay with him. But I had to at least tell CJ in person that she wasn't actually person I'd been fantasizing about.

I met CJ and gave her a wide smile (a smile that was mostly due to the recent developments with Gabe).

"Wow, you seem really excited for our date." she said, nudging my arm. This seemed oddly out of character of her, so I figured she must have really liked me. And it made it that much harder to tell her I didn't like her the same way.

She must have noticed my sudden change of mood because she said, "Did I say something wrong?"

"What? No, I, uh..." I wasn't expecting to have to confront her this soon.

"You're thinking about something. What is it? You know you can talk to me." she said seriously.

"Well, I do actually need to talk to you." I said, ready to tell her the truth. May Gabe forgive me. "I am thinking about something, or some_one_ really..."

"Some_one_?" she asked, putting her head to the side.

"Um, see, yesterday... I wasn't really thinking about you." I saw her face turn sad, and so I added "I mean I like you a lot, CJ, but... not in the way you think."

"Oh." She said, looking sad but not showing any signs of wanting to cry. "I see."

"I'm really sorry. It's just that, when you said that, I couldn't tell you because... the person I _do_ like was in the room with us and I didn't think they wanted me to like them like that..."

"So you like Suki?" she interrupted.

I knew that was coming. So next was the really hard part. "No..."

"It has to be Suki, the only other person in the room was Gabe, unless there was an invisible person only you could see..."

As I shook my head at her hypothesis, her eyes widened.

"Gabe? You... like... Gabe?" she was stunned.

"Yeah."

"And... he knows? He... he likes you too?"

"Yeah." I said again, and smiled.

"So... that's why he wouldn't tell us who you liked, because it was him and..." she kept talking as I nodded through her speech. "Are you two...?"

"I'm not sure, we're going to talk later." I said, trying not to give her the brush-off.

"Later?" She said, hurt evident on her face along with strength and will. "Maybe you should talk now. You shouldn't be on a date with me if you want to be with him."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "I really don't want to be rude to you..."

"It's fine... really. Go talk to Gabe."

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah. Seriously," she smiled, "go talk to him. I can handle this."

"Thanks."

"Anytime."

I ran back to my room, not really caring that people were staring at me. Opening the door I saw Gabe asleep in his clothes, with his head at the foot at the bed. He'd probably fallen asleep while waiting for me to return.

I crept over to him, careful not to wake him. His glasses were still on, but his hair was mildly tousled.

I rubbed my hand on his face, glad that he hadn't rejected me. I wanted him so much. I thought about waking him up with a kiss, but his eyes peeked open before I had the chance.

"Back already? he asked, barely sleepily.

"CJ knew something was up and let me go early." I said, not wanting to spring the news on him that I'd told her about us.

"I'm glad." he said, pulling me up onto his bed.

Once I was completely on top of him, I leaned down to kiss him softly again. "Me too."

We laid there for a while, occasionally shifting our positions, but always touching.

"It's getting late." Gabe said after a quick glance at his clock.

"Yeah, we should go to sleep." I started to move, but he tightened his hold on me.

"Where are you going?" he asked as if I was behaving oddly.

"Going back to my own bed." I answered blankly.

"Why? It's all the way on the other side of the room."

"But I still have to get up, I have my clothes on."

"Well then you can take them off, but don't go."

"I really think I should..."

Then, Gabe broke his promise. "Ian, you know you want to stay here. My bed is already warm, and we're already comfortable. We're moments away from sleep, so you might as well just stay here..."

Before he could hyper-suade me any further (it wasn't really working on me so much as a certain part of my body), I put my finger to his lips. "You promised you wouldn't." I teased.

"You didn't give me a choice." He smiled slyly, knowing he was forgiven.

"Alright, I'll stay." I said, settling into his grasp. "Do you think this'll work?"

"I hope so." he said. And although I didn't have CJ's ability, I could tell he meant it.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: i was gonna wait to post this until tomorrow, but i'm going on a field trip and probably won't feel like putting it up when I get back. so enjoy your early treat!


	4. Young Love

Chapter 4 - Young Love (Posted November 6th 2010)

Waking up in Gabe's bed the next morning caused some confusion for me. Especially since we hardly spent any time actually on the bed until the nights activities came to an end. We never put our pajamas on either, so it was just us under the covers. It was nice to feel him next to me. I liked touching him. The little bit of soft pudge encompassing his body was adorable and sensual. The bed was very small, almost too small to hold the both of us, but that made the experience that much more intoxicating; we had to be close together in order to be able to fit on the bed. It was amazing how one person could make me have thoughts like this.

"You're finally awake." Gabe said, nudging me playfully.

"Uh huh." I said, resting my head on his chest.

He didn't say anything for a while. He just let me lie there on top of him, feeling his heart beat against the side of my face. I rubbed his sides, loving how the shape of his body felt in my hands. I decided at that moment that this went far beyond a crush. For me, anyhow. I'd loved him as my friend, and now I loved him as more than a friend. And I was pretty sure, by the way he was holding me and his heart was pounding, that he felt the same about me.

I needed to kiss him then. I started with his neck, then his chin, then finally his mouth. I could tell he'd been waiting for me to do that because of how passionately he responded.

It made me wonder if we really could be in love. I mean, we were both just high school students. Just finding ourselves. How could we know we'd found love already? But I figured it out. We were trapped at Tower Prep. Forced to become who we are deep down inside before we would have in the normal world with everyone else. Maybe we could find what we wanted here as well. I knew, if we ever made it out of there, I'd still want him. And if we had never kissed that night in the hallways, we would stay friends until we did escape. And it probably would have developed into this kind of relationship as we grew closer anyway. I've admitted I'm not a genius, but I figured this out because it was true that I loved him.

But I wasn't ready to tell him yet. I was pretty sure he felt the same, but not one hundred percent.

Classes were sort of a drag today. I just wanted to spend all my time with Gabe. And I was worried about things being awkward between me and CJ, but she was fine.

At lunch I was relieved to sit next to Gabe. It felt like we'd been separated for much too long, even though it'd only been a few hours and even then we'd been together in class.

"So..." CJ said from across the table.

"So?" I asked, confused. She moved her eyes back and forth between me and Gabe. Then I got what she meant. "Oh..." I couldn't help but give a little bit of an embarrassed smile.

She chuckled a little. "So you talked? You worked it out and you're..."

Suddenly my preflex kicked in and I felt Gabe jump up a second before he did, and as able to stand at the same time to see what was wrong.

"You told her!" he asked, scared.

Oh, right. I never got to that when we talked. "Yeah, but it's cool..."

"No!" he said in a duh voice and shook his head with eyes wide. "No it isn't. How could you do that?"

I stared for a second, unsure of what to do. "I didn't think..."

Before I could finish even thinking of what I wanted to say, Gabe stormed off. I guess I couldn't blame him.

"Sorry." I heard CJ say.

"It's fine." I said. "I should have mentioned I talked to you about it."

Suki's confused face finally became serious. "Talked to her about what? Is something going on?"

"Um..." CJ and I said.

"Maybe not anymore." I said, and went after Gabe.

Finding my way back to our room, I discovered he wasn't there. I looked in the closets. Under the beds. But there weren't many hiding places in our room, so he had to be somewhere else.

I checked bathrooms, knowing that if he wanted to avoid confrontation, he'd probably be hiding in a communal place like that. But he wasn't there either.

So I thought maybe he went to the room we all go to to talk about our plans and discoveries. And I was right. I walked in and there he was, sitting on the table with his back to me.

"Gabe?" I said, but he stayed quiet. I sat at the table, but he wouldn't turn around. It felt like before, when he was telling me he couldn't do this. Like it was happening again. "Gabe, I'm sorry I told CJ. She knew I was thinking about someone else on our date and I felt like it was ok to tell her how I felt about you. But I shouldn't have done that, I know. I was just so happy you were giving me a chance. I'm sorry I ruined it so soon." It was silent for a second, but then I heard Gabe sigh and saw him give his head a little shake.

"You didn't ruin it." he said, laying back and looking up at me. "I was surprised for a while, but CJ is our friend, and I think it was right to tell her why you couldn't go out with her."

"Really?"

"Really."

"So you're not gonna break up with me?" I asked, almost shocked myself.

"Of course not. Not over something so stupid."

"Are we gonna tell Suki, then?" I asked because she was our friend as well.

"Eventually." he answered. "But first, I have to ask you a favor."

"Go ahead." I said as he got up off the table.

"This might sound weird to you, but... well, it even sounds dumb to me, so I'm going to do it without asking."

"O... k..." I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Go stand over there somewhere and close your eyes."

"Stand anywhere?"

"Yeah."

So I stood in an open part of the room and closed my eyes. I heard some shuffling and then something was placed in front of me. Then there was what sounded like Gabe stepping up onto something, and his arms came loosely around my neck.

"Now you can open your eyes."

I did as he said and found myself looking right at him. He was at my same height. I glanced down and saw a small stepstool under his feet and laughed.

"Aaw, don't laugh. I'm so short, I just wanted to be your height when I kiss you."

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

Nothing, was apparently his answer as he gave me a soft, slow kiss.

"That was nice." Gabe said. "I wish I was taller."

"Don't tell me you're going to use the stepstool every time you want to kiss me." I said playfully, but was kind of scared to hear his answer.

"I don't want to have to always stand on the tips of my toes." he answered plainly.

And then I had an Idea. I stooped down a few inches and hoisted him up. I held him with my arms right under his butt. "Wrap your legs around me." I said, and he did. "How's this?"

"I feel taller than you now."

"See, we don't need a stepstool. I'll just do this."

"I like that idea." he said and we kissed again.

"Come on," I said, setting him down. "Let's go back to our room for a while."

"Alright."

We navigated through the walkways to get back. That way we couldn't be seen, and no one would interrupt us.

Once in the room, Gabe pulled me by my shirtsleeve over to the bed. He kissed me a lot, more than usual. We were almost undressed when we stopped, knowing we had a class soon, and caught our breath as we laid next to each other.

Quietly he asked me, "Do you think we'll ever escape Tower Prep?"

"Yeah, with the four of us working together." I answered, knowing that our teamwork would make us stronger. "But, you know, even though I want out, I'm sort of glad I was brought here. I made new friends and... now I have you..."

"I know what you mean." he said, playing with my hair. "Ian, when we do get out of here... will we still..."

"Why would you ask that?" I said, grabbing his hands.

"I don't know, maybe you just want me because you're stuck here, and once you're not stuck here anymore, you won't want me anymore."

"Is that why you want me?" I asked, not ready for the pain if he'd answer 'yes'.

"No! That's why I'm worried."

"Well that's definitely not how I feel. I want you because..." I knew what I wanted to say. And I knew I was going to say it, no matter how long I hesitated. I just had to get a good look at his beautiful, wide eyes before I said it. "I love you, Gabe."

He smiled the most adorable smile. His teeth peeking out from behind those thin, gorgeous lips. "I love you too, Ian."

That settled it for me. It felt like he saved me from something. From being alone in this place. Or in any place, really. And I already knew I would do anything to save him, and Suki and CJ too. Anything to get us out.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: ugh, i hate this story. I'm glad it's over. I only wrote this last chapter because I had it partially written and didn't want to leave it unfinished. I know, what an odd thing for an author with two old unfinished stories to say, but c'est la vie, mon amis. Anyway, I have a side-along with this that I wrote that I'll put up in a few days. It's mature, which is why it's being put up separately. It fits between chapter 3 (the previous chapter) and chapter 4 (this chapter). I'll probably be in a better mood once I write something good...


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